These formidable predators in the Mediterranean basin are on the verge of vanishing, with poaching being a major contributor to their worrying decrease.
This conclusion is based on studies conducted by experts, who partnered with an international conservation charity. They report that various at-risk marine animals – like the great white shark – are appearing for sale in fish markets across North Africa.
Great whites are one of more than 20 Mediterranean shark species shielded by international agreements, which makes it illegal to target them or to trade them.
However, by observing harbors along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, scientists discovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in just the past year.
Social media clips showing protected sharks being unloaded in North African ports has been confirmed.
A particular clip showed a large great white being hauled ashore from a fishing boat in Algeria. Another, filmed in Tunisia, shows heads and fins of what is believed to be a protected mako, which is also a species at risk.
Remaining Habitat
The project head, stated that many shark populations – particularly great whites – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the last few decades.
"No other body of water is exploited as heavily as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The consequences of commercial fishing has been increasing... and it's plausible that they will become extinct in the near future."
The Mediterranean great whites is now classified as Critically Endangered by the key international body.
In their new mission to track and analyze the sharks, the team worked in the Strait of Sicily – an area considered a "key remaining habitat" in the Mediterranean for several endangered shark species.
One key aim of their project was to deploy a tracking device onto a great white – something that has remained unachieved in the Mediterranean Sea.
To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of chum – including frozen mackerel and tuna scraps and a substantial volume of tuna oil to create a "oil slick" that many sharks can sense from far off.
Even after a fortnight of effort – laying bait, sampling for DNA to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers failed to encounter any specimens.
They captured only a short sighting of one blue shark species on their cameras.
"It's disappointing," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how degraded this ecosystem is."
While the team was searching for remaining sharks, they also learned that a young great white shark had been captured and killed in a North African fishery – just not far from where they were working.
It is not clear whether that specimen was caught by accident in gear, or if it was targeted.
The team, however, estimates that more than 40 great white sharks have been caught around that coast. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.
Sharks for Sale
The researchers, along with regional contacts, are observing various harbors in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are caught, landed and offered for sale in countries including the region.
The rules that protect sharks are complex. Currently, numerous species have treaty-based safeguards – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.
An regional treaty states that those species cannot be "retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold or displayed or offered for sale".
The agreement specifies "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules are not designed for accidental bycatch and enforcement is variable from nation to nation.
A conservationist noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a paradoxical element of hope in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.
"It shows that there is life remaining," he said. "And if we can protect this, there is a hope for revival."
What Can Be Done?
In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishing communities who catch sharks might face the decision of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.
"Why would they discard their catch into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a local expert. "If you assist and guide them in more responsible fishing, they will not catch white sharks."
A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean joined forces, "there is hope."
"But," he added, "we've got to act very quickly."
